One of the great things about summer is that Disney tries to keep ride closures to an absolute minimum so that there are lots of attractions for people to enjoy.

Magic Kingdom: The big Fantasyland expansion is well underway and has changed the places you go to see some of your favorite characters. You can see the Little Mermaid characters intermittently at the Adventureland Verandah Porch (check your theme park times guide) but please note that Ariel appears in her human form here and does not have fins. The Disney Princess, Mickey Mouse, and Minnie Mouse Meet-and-Greets are now offered at the new Town Square Theater. FASTPASS tickets available. TinkerBell & Friends now meets guests at Tinker Bell’s Magical Nook in Adventureland.

Magic Kingdom: The Liberty Square Riverboat will be closed from August 4 – 10, 2012.

Magic Kingdom: The Country Bear Jamboree with be closed from August 22 – October 16, 2012.

Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort – Surf Pool wil be closed from August 6 – September 7, 2012. The Grand Slam pool will remain open. If you enjoy the pools, you may want to call your travel agent to see if you can move to one of the other Disney value resorts with no pool closures without increasing your cost.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort – Courtyard pool closed August 24 – early December 2012. The Beach Pool will remain open during this time.

Disney’s Magical Express (Airport Shuttle Service) – This wonderful service providing transportation between the Orlando International Airport and your Disney resort hotel is offered 24 hours a day but luggage service is not offered for arrivals after 10:00PM. If you have a late-night arrival, you simply need to collect your bags and take them with you on the bus.

New Disney World Resort – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is now open.

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – The Finding Nemo and Cars sections are both now open at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Construction continues on the Lion King & Little Mermaid areas. Did you know that they’ve included special recordings of music and the Finding Nemo characters that you can only hear under the water in the “Big Blue” swimming pool? We’ve added a lot of great new photos of this resort here.

Build A Better Mouse Trip gives you a better Disney vacation by taking the stress out of trip planning & providing theme park touring plans. We book directly with Disney so you never pay more than if you booked the reservation yourself and we provide lots of help and advice designed to take the stress out of vacation planning at no extra cost to you.

1) Help with selecting the right resort or hotel for your budget. We don’t just book Disney resorts – we’re happy to make reservations at other accomodations too.

2) Help with building a Best Days Itinerary – a daily schedule that puts you in the best park for each day of your trip

3) Help with dining reservations (subject to availability)

4.) At no extra cost to you, we will provide 1) a TouringPlans.com subscription, 2) Tour Guide Mike Subscription – or – 3) the newest edition of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World when you book through www.buildabettermousetrip.com